Over the past decade, healthcare providers have progressively seen the importance of IT in delivering quality care to their patients. From the new meaningful use guidelines, to health information connections, to new ways to monitor and safeguard care delivery, technology has become an integral part of healthcare management.
Swingtide is a prominent Technology Business Operations firm, providing top-notch IT sourcing and business solutions in the area of IT business operations.It is a specialized consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) firm with deep expertise in IT sourcing, technology management, contracting and IT finance. Its methodologies have been developed and refined over many years by senior leaders and advisors working with large and small companies across multiple industries.
Swingtide was founded in 2001 as a venture capital-backed software company. In 2004 it shifted focus away from software to advisory services supporting the CIO. Primarily a multi-disciplinary advisory firm, Swingtide has advanced to address specific needs of today’s CIO in healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and other vertical markets. Swingtide has grown to be a trusted advisor to companies challenged with outsourcing and technology business issues. Swingtide consultants are based across the United States, with a concentration in Chicago, Illinois.
Swingtide’s Leader
Swingtide assists companies in making technology more responsive to their business needs. Diane Carco, the President, established Swingtide’sadvisory practice and subsequently the BPO practice. Swingtide, an employee-owned company, is led by Diane, who is a recognized expert in helping companies obtain value from IT outsourcing and improving other aspects of key IT business operations. She is a respected information technology executive, an author, and a frequent speaker at industry conferences and university seminars.
Diane’s primary focus is helping companies accomplish the complex set of tasks that comprise the full life-cycle of an outsourcing engagement or important third-party vendor relationships generally. Her management of the sourcing process for companies entering into third-party agreements, managing relationships, terminating relationships, and supporting other complex technology transactions has enabled organizations to save hundreds of millions of dollars while avoiding costly missteps. She has also been consulted and provided expert testimony in disputes related to significant technology deals. She is a co-author of The Smart Way to Buy Information Technology (AMACOM, 1998), an extensively used and quoted guide to information technology sourcing.
Services and Solutions
Swingtide’s work with healthcare providers includes representing the client in the selection, contracting and vendor management of EMR-EHR and other technology providers. As such, its insight, interaction, and influence with EMR-EHR providers are substantial and frequent.
Swingtide directs clients through the maze of evolving requirements and capabilities. Clients emerge with an appropriate set of solutions, including interoperability (devices, platforms, systems, and applications), mobility, informatics generally, cybersecurity, and healthcare CRM.
Swingtide sees continued horizontal expansion within the healthcare vertical and collaboration with technology providers to advance healthcare-specific contracting structures. It will continue to address cultivating overall IT business and operational suppleness, reducing cycle time, enhancing controls and governance, and facilitating true long-term-positive client-provider relationships.
In healthcare, the need for IT BPO support services continues to grow rapidly. Swingtide addresses this need by providing client-specific services delivered as managed services over an extended period. For example, in the healthcare business verticalSwingtide’s BPO practice includes providing end-to-end, full life-cycle management of IT sourcing, contracting and contract management.
The changes in the way healthcare services are delivered are profound and lasting. Swingtide sees continued provider consolidation in the market as they adopt interoperability standards and address much-needed common definitions and taxonomies. However, Swingtide does not expect these actions to take place at a rapid pace. Therefore, continued focus will be required to address today’s IT business challenges versus waiting on the future environment to evolve.
The Future
Swingtide works very closely with clients to both stay aligned with their business and operational direction and to gain insight into current, emerging and future regulatory or compliance requirements.It fields a diverse group of highly experienced, highly skilled resources capable of defining and implementing innovative solutions.
Swingtide works in extremely specialized areas of the market and is happy to compete with any firm of any size with its team of experts and proven methodologies. It also teams with competitors to offer specialized support to their clients in areas where the competitor does not possess satisfactory knowledge or practice skills.
Diane and the entire Swingtide team bring a steady, flexible, but systematic approach to challenging technology business issues. Their experience demystifies processes and uncovers hidden costs and delays before they occur, ensuring client realization of intended benefits.
